“Drugs are just a normal part of the London lifestyle”

[Pollstrox]

DD is single, in her early 30s and has been living in various professional house shares in London for the last 10 years or so. She’s got a fantastic job and social life; in fact (outside of Lockdown!) she’s barely ever at home. She’s often out for drinks after work during the week and the weekend will almost always consist of trips to bars and restaurants with friends accompanied by nights of heavy drinking. DD and I are very close and she chooses to share a lot of information with me about her life, which I love.

Lately she mentioned her drug use which I now find out has been a regular occurrence throughout her time living in London. She tells me that her and her friends will spend a weekend at least monthly, staying up all night using cocaine and occasionally they will have a night in using MDMA. Having met DD’s friends and housemates, I’m absolutely shocked. They are all lovely, have very successful careers (mostly in creative industries) and have clearly been raised well. I would never ever think they’d spend most weekends using drugs without a thought for the consequences. In fact, ironically DD and a number of her friends very health conscious and most are vegan!

DD is completely blasé about her habits and tells me it’s a completely normal part of the London lifestyle for single professional people. In fact, according to DD, she doesn’t know anyone else who DOESN'T partake! AIBU in thinking that this cant be true?!

I’m early 20s living in London and working in the creative sector am for yes it is rife and normal in some circles including ones I’m in not going to lie.

I do think like attracts like - so if it's not your scene, you won't see it but the thing that I think has made it prolific is that the people taking so many drugs seem to get away with it. Even on here, there are lots of posters talking about their wild days and how that's behind them now they are settled. So, t doesn't seem to have done them any harm.

I look at someone I know - the most judgemental person in the world and his past was very lively. Very successful now - the epitome of reinvention.

Have lived in London a long time, mix in lovely circles, never taken drugs. Not everyone is.

@TheVanGuardSix....Crack Cocaine is extremely easy to find in the States. Even in my little neck of the woods. Heroin is EVEYWHERE Crystal Meth not so much. Easy to make but harder to buy. The paranoia is real. The drug trade especially cocaine is more often dangerous for the children and women of Central and South America who import this shit. Our African American community is more heavily damaged by the addiction rates and imprisonment due to archaic war on drugs that definitely punishes our African American communities unfairly

This was my life prior to having a baby and settling down. My friends and I all have professional jobs and all did drugs recreationally. I am so glad that I decided to have a baby when I did (at 28) because I was very unhappy with that lifestyle but did not know how to stop. A lot of my friends still do this and I don't associate with them as much anymore. I think a lot of them are addicted and probably won't stop unless they have children. It's a very hard habit to break when you are dependent on drugs for a good time.

Very normal amongst my circle of friends, myself included until I started trying for my first DS.

I worked in tech sales, it was a very buzzy company. Regular socials, monthly commission blow outs, everyone was sleeping with everyone. It was just normal and that was only 5/6 years ago.

Nowadays the odd person will bring coke out after a dinner party/a rare night out or smoke a spliff.

Completely different to DH's circle who all worked locally in the London suburbs.

MDMA yes. Coke no.
In my experience of London living.

MDMA was absolutely normal among my friends and a central part of most nights out. No one got in a fight, or arrested, or vomited or lost or pissed themselves.

Very common. My job involves a lot of client entertaining and I’ve been asked many many times by clients to help them get some drugs during a night out. It’s not uncommon for colleagues and clients to be passing cocaine around during a Friday afternoon at the pub.

For some it becomes normaility. remind her of Daniella Westbrooks nose. Or how it almost destroyed Patsy Palmers career.
There is a good programme done by Gordon Ramsey on coke. When you see whats in it you won,t want to stuff it up your nose.

DH and I have both lived in London for over a decade - I work in the creative industries and he works in the City. Neither of us have ever touched the stuff - although I've been aware of its presence at a few work events. It's not something that's done in our immediate friendship group. I suspect we're in the minority, though.

Her friends may care about animals by being vegan, but they clearly don't give the same value to human life if they are supporting the vile drug trade.

I've met people who take drugs and then complain about the murder rate in London. They don't see that they are fuelling it.

Makes me so angry.

Very standard in lots of cities in the UK. Drug use seems to be overtaking alcohol now.

I’ve lived in London all my life. Drugs are everywhere.

However, I managed them avoid taking them and so do many others. Druggie people are quite tiresome to be around tbh.

I’m surprised she hasn’t grown out of it by her 30s.

To answer your question OP: it’s a ‘normal’ part of your lifestyle if you want to be around drugs. If you don’t there are many other lifestyles available in London.

It depends on your social circule. I am in FinTech in the City, never taken drugs and never would.

Black lives matter and daughter is contributing to the death of a lot of young black men.

I find it really ironic that so many young, woke people will happily protest their values by signing petitions, boycotting companies, and participating in the inevitable Twitter pile-ons - and then go and take coke on a weekend.

The hypocrisy is staggering.

That's so depressing.

Yup totally normal in some insular social/professional circles in London.
I went on a hen do once where there was shock and horror expressed that I took ibuprofen in the morning (it’s really bad for you according to them) and they’d spent all night boshing coke. I hadn’t!
I agree with pp that the trade is entirely built on the exploitation of the world’s poorest. Hypocritical to care about one thing and ignore the thousands of deaths and abject poverty connected with the trade.
In fact, there’s a huge opening for ethically produced and supplied class A drugs I reckon... Sort of like an illegal fair trade. I’m sure some wealthy indulger has thought of this already.

Adult 20’s and early 30’s in London surrounded by creatives, city lawyers etc. None of us were into drugs. Never been part of the drug scene. Would be really put off anyone who took drugs regularly for all the ethical reasons mentioned above and also because when you’re the one not high, it’s very dull!

As a pp said - accessing drugs in London is easy and is rife in some circles. But also completely avoidable. I lived there in my 20s and 30s, a couple of my flatmates at one point dabbled occasionally, but most people I knew, worked with or socialised with did not. I worked in the public sector. It was pretty easy to avoid socialising with people taking drugs, and desirable too, as they were as boring as fuck company (from my non-drug taking perspective).

For balance, I am in my 20s in London and don't take drugs nor would I know where to get them! I work in the public sector though so maybe we are a bit more boring than city workers.

I think it's vile to support the drug trade. I'm also a medical professional and see the downsides and can't believe people are spouting 'they're young so they won't come to any harm'.
But then I know plenty of medical professionals that use recreational drugs.
Of course not everyone does it but even if they did it does not make it safe, ethical or justifiable.
I'd be so worried about a child of mine doing this.

Yes, it's normal in that quite a lot of people in teens/20's/30's in London will take drugs recreationally. Most of them grow out of it. Plenty of people don't take drugs at all, but your dd's situation is common enough.

I am pretty shocked by everyone saying this is normal in London. I have lived in London almost all my life and never personally ever seen anyone take cocaine.

I do know one person who had a serious problem with cocaine, but went through expensive rehab and now has had several years clean with Narcotics Anonymous (which was full of celebs!). They work in banking and apparently cocaine use is quite widespread in that industry.

I know a few other people who have occasionally taken in recreationally, but not regular users.